Shared Care
Shared Care clients are seen in the GP's surgery, are prescribed substitute medication by their GP and are supported by a KCA shared care worker.
Substance misusers historically are often reticent about seeing their GP but the Shared Care programme allows people to be seen once a month by their GP for substitute opiates medication, and provides an opportunity for other medical needs to be addressed. Treatment for these clients becomes more normalised and appointments can be offered outside office hours to accommodate clients who are working, or those attending college etc.
GPs who are part of the scheme are supported by their shared care worker, but also by the Specialist Medical Team at KCA. In addition an experienced team of managers and community drug workers are available for information and advice. KCA also provides accredited training - RCGP Parts 1 and 2 - to GPs who are interested in working with substance misusers.
The role of the key worker is to help Shared Care clients to recognise and manage triggers that might cause a relapse and to explore develop ways of overcoming these. There is a degree of fluidity built into the system so that if a service user experiences problems, they can return quickly to the core service for more intensive internventions before coming back to the Shared Care programme.